By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The bulls on Thursday sustained its hold on the Nigerian bourse as all-share index (ASI) rose 0.99 percent to close at 27,028.24 points, while market capitalisation increased by N90.80 billion to N9.28 trillion.
“Today’s performance further extended the Month-to-Date gain to 7.84 percent and pared the Year-to-Date loss to 5.64 percent, according to Cordros daily market update.
The update says at the close of the session, the Banking, Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices gained 4.62 percent, 1.18 percent and 1.07 percent apiece, owing to the positive performance in the shares of Nigeria’s tier one (1) lenders Guaranty Trust bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc closing at a gain of 7.32 percent and 4.33 percent each.
On the Industrial Goods sector, for the second consecutive session, cement producers, Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria Plc and Dangote Cement Plc gained 3.40 percent and 0.01 percent respectively; while oil marketing major, Oando Plc and first dual listed Nigerian oil and gas upstream firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company appreciated by 4.97 percent and 1.43 percent each.
On the flip side, the Consumer Goods index lost 0.82 percent, on the back of price declines in the shares of beermaker, Nigerian Breweries Plc and soap and detergent manufacturer, Unilever Nigeria Plc by 1.57 percent and 5.00 percent respectively.
Similarly, a selloff in the share of reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance Plc by 4.63 percent led the Insurance sector to a loss of 0.53 percent.
At the close of the session’s trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), market breadth was positive, with 33 gainers and 17 losers recorded, according to the NSE daily market statistics. Financial HoldCo, FCMB Holdings Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of 0.12 kobo per share; while NCR Nigeria Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of N1.01 per share.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian Equities Market fell by 25.64 percent to 498.78 million shares, valued at N2.73 billion, and traded in 4,765 deals.
“We expect today’s gain to be sustained in the coming session, as investor appetite appears strengthened,” the Cordros update affirmed.
